#BloggerProblems

Dress (Limited); Vest (Eastside find at Marshalls); Tights & Necklace (Target);
Sunglasses (Charming Charlie); Shoes (Naturalizer)
Nicole Lai Photography

Most people have an outfit in mind for an occasion... a wedding date night, party, reunion, etc.  I wore this gray and brown combo specifically for the brightly colored wall, which makes zero sense since I didn't walk around with the graffiti wall as my backdrop all day. But when I saw all of the loud colors I thought it was so fun, and wanted a neutral outfit to compliment it.  Which again, sounds odd but it's the truth - and maybe admitting I have a problem is the first step to recovery? If you ever want to feel more normal about the random issues that bloggers have - go to twitter and search #bloggerproblems... I'm pretty sure dressing for a wall is one of them :)

No Luck of the Irish

Sweater (Banana Republic Outlet); Skirt (Stolen from Mom's closet); Shoes (Naturalizer);
Necklace (H&M); Sunglasses & Tights (Target); Earrings (Nordstrom);Watch (Michael Kors)
Belkis Cruz Photography

Here was my St.Patrick's Day... Tom and I were driving back from another weekend in Wisconsin, and 2 hours into the trip my Dad sends me a picture message of my keys.  Yup, left my keys at my parent's place. I figured, no big deal - just mail them to me this week and I'll be fine as I have a spare car key and Tom has keys to my condo.  Well, we get to my place and I can't get my garage door open.  The code on the door isn't working and since the garage is detached, there is no way of getting inside without the door opener (which of course is attached to my keys).  Oh and by the way mailing the keys to me won't work since my mail key is inside my car, which is inside the garage I can't get into.  Not to mention I have a flight to Ohio on Tuesday afternoon for a work trip - so sorta need my car before then. Thank you to my parents who went Kinkos to overnight the keys - which I will get on Tuesday morning.

So while I didn't have any green beer yesterday, I did have a stiff rum and Coke after all of this!

Tough Girl

Dress (Target); Jacket & Tights (Kohls); Necklace (H&M); Heels (Nine West);
Earrings (Nordstrom); Sunglasses (Charming Charlie);
Belkis Cruz Photography

Even in the girliest of dresses, this motorcycle jacket makes me tough... And there are times (like this week) - when laundry is piling up, the bed hasn't been made since last week, there is no food in the fridge, the dog is out of dental sticks, birthday and baby gifts need to be purchased, and at some point taxes need to be dealt with...  And you feel like only a super hero can get it all done. And while I am no super hero, somehow my tough jacket made going to the grocery store a bit easier... as for the rest of the list - tomorrow is another day :)

Typecast

Dress (Taylor find at Marshalls); Shirt (NY&Co); Nylons (Kohls);
Heels (Franco Sarto find at Marshalls); Earrings (Nordstrom);
Dave Haas Photography

You know those dresses you buy for a specific occasion, and then you can't think of wearing it anywhere else?  Well this is my Reese Witherspoon of dresses - it's best worn at a wedding (which is what I bought it for) - the same way Reese is best used for for romantic comedies.  And with the cap sleeves and neckline detail this dress is hard to wear to the office - not to mention I'd be freezing.  But with the right shirt underneath - this dress was able to break free from it's wedding typecast and play the role it's always wanted to - marketing gal and puppy mom by day who secretly dreams of ruling the world ;)

Weekend Wear

Sweater (Limited); Top (Kiss - NY); Jeans (Nordstrom); Shoes (Payless);
Necklace (H&M); Watch (Michael Kors); Sunglasses (Charming Charlie)

I like my weekend wear to be easy and comfortable - which also happens to be how I prefer my weekends.  As nice as it is that my boyfriend and I are from basically the same hometown, it makes the time there jam packed with family activities on both sides. Last weekend we went back to Wisconsin (about a 5 hour drive) to celebrate my mom's birthday and his nephew's baptism - and we finally picked up Rex who had been staying with my parents for the past month.  Doesn't he look happy to see me???

Meow

Sweater (Ann Taylor); Tank (Loft); Jeans (Express); Necklace (H&M);
Shoes (Naturalizer); Sunglasses (Charming Charlie);
Belkis-Cruz Photography

Anything with a leopard print lends itself to a bit of sass and attitude.... which is exactly how I felt. Well, except for the 45 minutes I was laying in a dentist chair, getting a cavity filled (in fact nothing makes you feel less sassy than having a drool suction device shoved in your mouth every 5 minutes).  As I listened to the grind of the drill against my tooth (probably the worst sound ever) I thought about all the pieces of candy corn, Swedish fish, and Twizzlers I probably shouldn't have eaten.  You would think that would have stopped me from going home and immediately eating girl scout cookies... but it didn't ;)

Spring Fever

Sweater, Shirt & Capris (Limited); Necklace (Consignment Shop);
Shoes (Jessica Simpson - Marshalls); Earrings (Nordstrom);
 Sunglasses (Charming Charlie)
Belkis-Cruz Photography

After many long weeks in the single digits and teens, weather in the 30's has felt like a heatwave.  And so while capri pants aren't completely appropriate, I felt the surge in temps deserved a "get out of jail" ankle party...  I've had enough of tights and boots (no offense to my tights and boots). Pay no attention to the snow covered streets,  I have Spring fever!  

Office Appropriate

Dress (Gap); Shirt (Target); Nylons (Kohls); Necklace (Ann Taylor); Shoes (Naturalizer)
Watch (Fossil); Glasses (gifted by Firmoo)
Nicole Lai Photography

This dress is lower cut and sleeveless - certainly not appropriate for navigating the cube maze at work.  However, tying a chambray shirt quickly converts this dress to work wear.  I wish this type of magic could be used on other things not work appropriate... like office cocktails during the day.  Maybe I've just been watching too much Mad Men, but I'd like to make the nomination for office cocktails as the universal method for improving corporate culture.  We can call it the Draper policy :)

Double Denim

Jacket (Old Navy); Shirt (Loft); Jeans (Nordstrom); Socks (Kohls);
Boots (Guess find at Marshalls)

I wore this double denim look to happy hour the other day.  My boyfriend and were sitting at the bar, and he says to me... "so your combination of the different colored jean jacket and jeans is sort of like pattern mixing... but with denim, right?" As he waited for my response, I could tell how proud he was of himself that he used the term pattern mixing in a sentence.  My first though was "what have I done to this poor guy that he is making fashion references at happy hour"...  And then I became extremely impressed that he actually listens to me!  There really should be a group for boyfriends/husbands/partners of bloggers... they could probably use the emotional support ;)  

Incomplete

Sweater (Old Navy); Dress (Taylor find at Marshalls); Tights (Target);
Shoes (Naturalizer Outlet); Sunglasses (Charming Charlie);
Belkis-Cruz Photography

The decision to wear flats vs. heels is certainly a complicated one.  In my heart it's a no brainer - the decision is heels 100% of the time.  But sometimes my feet hurt and the thought of balancing around on 4 inches all day makes me more tired than that 2 hour conference call on my calendar.  Don't get me wrong - there are so many cute flats out there, but whenever I wear them, I feel a bit incomplete. Forget a man! It's my heels that complete me...
my heels and Rex ;)

Uncomplicated

Shirt (StyleMint); Skirt (Limited); Tights (Kohls); Boots (Guess find at Marshalls)
Dave Haas Photography

I could have added a scarf... and maybe should have worn a necklace. It can be so easy to over complicate and over accessorize an outfit...  And after about ten minutes and five variations of this look, I left it alone.  Believe me, my tendency to over think things can be painful at times (my boyfriend would strongly agree).  So this is a pretty simple story: skirt meets shirt, and finds a pair of boots... the end :)